Just Walk It Off

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anger is one of those emotions that I don't do very well. I don't really understand how acting with anger towards something or someone that I don't like does anything but poison me. Don't get me wrong, I feel emotions that are something close to anger all of the time; frustration, disappointment, fatigue. It's my reaction to those emotions that I feel compelled to make positive and productive. Sometimes that reaction is just to "walk it off."

I saw a documentary many years ago about the way a specific group of people in West Africa handle anger. I wish I could share the source and details of this piece, but I haven't been able to track it down. The focus of the story was that the best and only way to handle anger was to take a walk. When a child of these communities displays anger, it is the role of any adult to gently take that child and begin walking silently, for as long and as far as it takes for the child to begin to feel more in control. Then, talking with the child, and listening to them while walking creates something amazing: time and space, connecting with themselves, nature and another person to gain perspective.

I have seen this work a hundred times, in a hundred different ways. With my own children, with myself, with friends and loved ones who are struggling. It even works when I am the one who is causing them the anger. As my youngest son has told me, he can't stay mad at me when I suggest taking the dog for a long walk together. He has no idea that walking the dog at that particular moment is a calculated move.

I am sure that there are many studies out there that would support the physical and emotional benefits of both walking and getting outdoors to reduce stress and anger. I don't need data, though, to tell me that the opportunity to walk, for as long and as far as it takes is all I need to get myself and my emotions back in balance.

Feeling angry? Just walk it off.